declining school allocation for home ed

[pinkkoala]

i have to send allocation back to LEA to decline dd school place for sept as we are going to home ed.

i have put on the form about home schooling do you think it is wise to tell them this or just say no to place, i have a fear the LEA will pressure me into sending her to school, will they check me out and family members to see if i am able to do this as a lot of family are against the idea.

i need to post the form by monday, so all help appreciated.

and people wonder why we are sceptical about letting LAs come into our homes?

sigh

I agree with MIS and Ommward.

Which LA is this?

thanks julie, i have drafted a copy of the letter above.

but i feel as if i am going to aggarvate them even more by being quite blunt, but i had read that she had to be compulsory school age before i needed to show evidence.

i have listed all the things she does, arts/crafts, what she does in the garden, trips out, what educational things she does at home and the workbooks we use and companies on the internet that we use for workbooks etc, i am willing to enclose this but do you think it might go against me.

i have emailed the northants home ed org but have not yet had a reply.

our LA is northants.

i've just noticed all my speeling mistakes, better not show EWO this or that will be it.

i can't even spell now as i am all over the place.

DO NOT give them information at this point. They have no right to it whatsoever. And then it is a hostage to fortune - if you submit to their agenda it gives them the confidence to go on demanding illegal things from you.

You need to turn this around in your mind IMO. It is the same, legally, as a traffic warden giving you a ticket when you are parked legally. You could claim damages from this person. Of course you probably wouldn't want to, but seriously, you are being illegally harassed by a State employee. You should be furious, not frightened.

The way bullies get to go on being bullies is by people appeasing them. You have to stand up to this bully. You have to show them that you know the law and that you know they are breaking it, or else play the silly-little-me card and say that you're very confused by what they are asking you because you thought you had to provide an education once your child reaches compulsory school age and that this education should be suitable for the age, ability and aptitude of your child, but they are asking you to provide evidence of a very particular set of things and where does it say in the law that this is what you have to be providing? That will shut them up very very fast.

Anecdotally, the HEers who stand up to
their LAs stop being harassed by them.

And for all those people saying "but why don't you think HEers should have routine LA monitoring?"... THIS IS WHY. Here is a bunch of LA employees bullying innocent citizens and BREAKING THE LAW. Why would we trust them and their ilk anywhere near our families?????????????

You said they are asking

1. what a re your short and longer term plans.
2. how do you provide for your childs physical development.
3. how is the work to be organised.
4. are you likely to enlist the support of a tutor.
5. how will you record your childs progress/dificulties.

What will happen, if a little way down the line you become totally autonomous-as many of us so?

I didn't plan short term or long term. I didn't know what the children would be interested in for the next week, let alone longer

I didn't organise their work-they didn't do any formal work and what they did was their own to organise as they wished.

I didn't know if I was likely to enlist the support of a tutor.
I did in the end find horse riding instructors/piano/sax/guitar/singing/sailing teachers. But I didn't know we'd need them at the beginning so couldn't have answered that question.
The children themselves found the learning support they needed to move on with the computer

I didn't/don't record the children's progress/difficulties.
I didn't need to record them-there is NO requirement to in law and besides, I am the one responsible for their education-I didn't need to write it down for myself, I could see for myself where any difficulties were and help the through it if they wanted me to.
Sometimes their progress has happened in their own heads-how the hell could I record that when it may not be apparent for months/until they spoke up about it.

I agree with ommward again.
They are bullying you into giving way to their demands which are beyond the law.

Have a look at the Elective Home Education :Guidelines for LAs produced for LAs by the DCSF.

Section 3.13 says
Parents are NOT required to:
*teach the national curriculum
*provide a broad and balanced education
*have a timetable
*have premises equipped to any particular standard
*set hours during which education will take place
**have any specific qualifications
*make detailed plans in advance
*observe school hours days or terms
*give formal lessons
*mark work done by their child
*formally assess any progress or set development objectives
*reproduce school type peer group socialisation
*match school based, age -specfic standards

morning everyone,

just had some good news late yesterday afternoon.

the education welfare officer contacted me and has agreed on me home ed our dd and has said that she won't contact us for another 12 mnths, hopefully i can enjoy being with dd as it was starting to make me feel pressured with all the paperwork and the conversations with EWO.

my husband, dd and me went to the zoo on mon, the seaside on tues where she went on a donkey and did all the kid things, eat chips out the wrapper, play ball etc she had a great time, now we can look forward to many more outings.

any help or tips on how to teach dd will be greatfully received.

Oh I'm glad that they've stopped hassling you. It's still a nonsense that she made it sound like they'd "agreed" to you doing something which is your legal right, but at least they're going to keep out of your hair for 12 months so you can stop fretting about that side of things and enjoy your time with dd.

As to how you go about things, I don't have any experience as we've only done this with an older DC, but I think at this stage you can think in terms of how she has learned things with you so far, and continue in that sort of way. So, if she's someone who likes books about stuff then you maybe will spend a lot of time on trips to the library, if she's someone who learns well from "doing" things, and the conversations that come out from that then you'll want to give her lots of those opportunities.

I think you said earlier that she loves being outside - so maybe you'll find opportunities there. You can count the plants as you put them in, and talk about how they grow, and different kinds of soil and weather.

LOL That 'she agreed' to it!
As AMIS it is not her choice to agree or not!

Anyway, I'd also agree with going along the way you have been doing, I bet she learnt loads at the zoo and at the seaside etc!

Have a look at Alan Thomas' book
"How children learn at home"

Forgot to say
Well done for not giving in to their intimidation!

Now relax and enjoy.

hi everyone, i'm back again.

have had a call from the ewo saying although they have agreed i can home ed, they would now like to come round and see what sort of work dd is doing, how i cope with challenging behaviour and whether we can get her into a social group so she can mix with other kids.

i am not sure how i feel about this, on one hand i have nothing to hide but i am not sure about the challenging behaviour bit, i feel they are looking to see how i discipline her, i feel a bit like i am on trial.

any suggestions from anybody would be grateful.

i was just starting to relax a bit more now this has put a spanner in the works again.

You don't have to have a meeting if you don't want to.
You're perfectly entitiled to write back and say you're settling in with HE and will contact them in due course.
The law looks as if it's going to change but at the moment you don't have to accept a visit.

"How you cope with challenging behaviour"???

the LA is entitled to make informal enquiries about the education you are providing, if they have reason to believe an education is not taking place!

and you did say before that the EWO said that they
"agreed on me home ed our dd and has said that she won't contact us for another 12 mnths"

I write back and state that you acknowledge their letter, but you don't require a home visit at the moment thank you, and that you, will be back in touch when you have been home educating for twelve months, as previously agreed.

Have you contacted local home educators yet?
If you have been to any home ed meetings, you could make a comment that you are already in touch with home ed social groups-as well as any others such a Brownies, etc that she may be involved in.

As litchick says, the law hasn't changed yet.

Agree with Julie and Litchick,

Also, get everything in writing. Ask them to quote the sections of the Education Act where it says you have to let them do this, they won't be able to.

Write to them and keep copies. It makes them much more careful about misinforming people.

This sort of thing makes me . I know a Mum who was told, by her LA, that her H.E kids were not allowed out in public between the hours of 9 and 3 .....can you believe it??

Unfortunately some LAs push their luck. Stand your ground if you feel it's going to cause you grief.

If you do decide to let them in though, try and get a friend/family member to sit in with you. (Preferably someone who knows the law regarding HE).